Richard definitely liked what he was seeing. Even one viable method of producing graphene would have satisfied him, yet here there was already a second. He decided that the day was proving exceptionally fortunate.
Meanwhile, Eliza's assistants asked the students to step aside and began preparing some sort of ritual. They drew a circle in chalk, inscribed a five-pointed star within it, and soon transformed it into a pentacle. Afterwards, they began filling the spaces formed within the pentacle with runes.
Behind the students, Richard noticed a new face — Professor Flitwick, who was observing the proceedings with keen curiosity. Owing to both his small stature and the students' fascination with what was happening inside the improvised circle, no one paid the professor any attention.
Brooks began commenting on her assistants' actions:
"And we succeeded in creating such a ritual. You don't even need a wand to activate it, though using one does make things easier. The principle is simple. First, you create a magical seal inscribed with runic symbols. It can be temporary, like the one we're using now, or you can create a permanent seal instead."
Professor Flitwick listened to the student's explanation with undisguised interest.
"Secondly," Miss Brooks continued, "one must place an object with a high carbon content into the centre of the pentacle: graphite, coal, even firewood. Though graphite works best, since it leaves no waste behind after use. And finally, the magical seal must be supplied with magical power while speaking the activation phrase."
Brooks turned to face the pentacle, within which a small mound of graphite had already been placed. She pointed her wand towards the centre and pronounced clearly:
"Et cluod sic de clinans graphen!"
No particularly spectacular special effects followed the girl's actions. Only within the centre of the seal did something astonishing occur — the black graphite transformed before the fascinated spectators' eyes into an ultra-thin, transparent film barely visible to the naked eye.
"Excellent! Magnificent!" Richard exclaimed delightedly. "The same as before, Miss Brooks — instead of this presentation," he waved the folder in his hand, "I expect a detailed written description of the ritual. Your team has most certainly earned a reward."
No sooner had Brooks's team erased the traces of the ritual and stepped aside than they were replaced by a sturdily built boy with short black hair and a heavy jaw. The two boys who had run off to the dormitory earlier handed him a folder full of papers. He approached Richard and silently passed it to him.
Richie glanced through the documentation and barely suppressed a smirk. Unlike Miss Brooks's elegant presentation, these papers resembled rough drafts hastily thrown together, and making sense of the information within was rather difficult.
"Begin," Richie nodded, snapping the folder shut.
"I'm Adam Thornton," the burly boy began in a deep bass voice. "We also developed a method for producing graphene. Ahem…"
Adam's throat had gone dry from nervousness, making his voice hoarse. He licked his lips anxiously and continued:
"We decided to develop a spell based on a combination of Charms and permanent Transfiguration. The principle's the same as Eliza's team's. Well… graphene is carbon, right? So all we need to do is take something like a piece of wood and transform it into graphene flakes, which can then be gathered and bonded together with сharms."
One of his teammates handed Adam a small log. He placed it on the floor and flicked his wand.
"Transformatio ipsum graphenum."
A yellow beam shot from the wand into the log, after which the piece of wood crumbled into a mound of fine powder.
Thornton then continued waving his wand, casting one spell after another upon the dust. First, he separated the powder into two portions — grey and white. Afterwards, using additional spells, he transformed the grey powder into a transparent graphene film.
All in all, Richie counted no fewer than seven different and rather complex spells and charms involved in the process. Yet he immediately recognised one enormous advantage to this method: it required no auxiliary ritual components and no sample material. In other words, all one needed was a wizard, a wand, and carbon.
"Excellent work, Mr Thornton," Richard said to the agitated young man. "I shall expect proper documentation from you as well. And in a respectable format this time, not rough drafts," he added, waving the folder. "Once the leaders of each team bring me all the necessary papers, they shall receive payment orders for the members of their groups. I have decided to award each of your three teams a grant of thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three Galleons. You have earned it fairly, ladies and gentlemen. However, I understand there are still others who wished to try their luck. Do not be discouraged — if I like your product, you too shall receive a reward."
The students — both those who had already been promised grants and those nervously awaiting their turn to present — burst into delighted chatter. Some of the spectators, however, looked distinctly displeased, casting envious glances towards the more fortunate students.
"Quiet!"
Clearwater's loud, commanding tone silenced everyone at once.
"Thank you, Miss Clearwater," Richard nodded to the prefect. "Please, next."
Two boys immediately rushed forward. One looked about fourteen, the other around sixteen. They bore a strong resemblance to one another: fair-haired, round-faced, and rather plump. The elder wore spectacles. Both boys bustled nervously into the centre.
"I'm Festus Fleming," the older boy introduced himself, "and this is my younger brother, Foster. We would like to present our development to you, sir."
Foster hurriedly unfolded a shimmering, ultra-thin sheet that strongly resembled Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak.
"This is an advanced invisibility cloak, sir," Festus explained. "Our father manufactures invisibility cloaks from Demiguise hair. They have several drawbacks: they are expensive, heavy, and extremely thick. Demiguise hair is unbelievably costly, so products made from it can never be cheap. But… if one uses only a tiny amount of hair, everything changes!"
Foster hastily spread out the shimmering silver fabric and draped it over his shoulders. The moment he wrapped it around himself, his torso vanished from sight, leaving only his head floating above the ground as though detached from the rest of his body. The effect was so astonishing that every stray sound in the room abruptly disappeared. The spectators gazed at the invisibility cloak in awed fascination.
(End of Chapter)
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